Time is fast forward to the point where you are going to go to mining on the moon?
There is a view that Chang'e 5 landed at the spaceship base north of Mount Lumke in the Storm Ocean, which is a helium 3 resource-rich area that goes straight to the moon, and Chang'e 7, which is expected to be launched in 2023 or 2024. The Antarctic region of the moon, which is preparing to land, is also an area with a large amount of helium 3. The reason why the United States is eager to return to the moon is to compete with us for the helium 3 enrichment zone. This is also the real reason and motivation for countries to launch lunar exploration and moon landing plans in recent years. my country has clearly planned to establish it by 2035. The moon base and realize the initial commercialization of controlled nuclear fusion .
Is the United States anxious to return to the moon to grab the helium 3 enrichment area?
Speaking of helium 3, this is a very ideal nuclear fusion material. Pure helium-3 fusion thermonuclear reaction will only produce positively charged protons, and no neutron is produced, which means using helium-3 When used as an energy source, there will be no barrier radiation and will not cause harm to the environment. At the same time, the energy released by helium-3 fusion is also the largest of all nuclear fusion reactions, and is very suitable as a source of power for future spacecraft.
China's nuclear fusion experimental device EAST
And the helium 3 we can contact is mainly derived from high-energy particles in solar wind . The difference is that the earth has a magnetic field and a thick atmosphere, so the high-energy particles in the solar wind are used to transfer high-energy particles in the solar wind due to its magnetic field and thick atmosphere. They are all blocked outside. Since the moon and Mercury have no magnetic field and atmosphere, the high-energy particles in the solar wind can directly bombard its surface, and the helium 3 it carries will naturally remain in their soil. According to the results of lunar exploration in various countries, the helium 3 content on the moon is estimated to be more than 1 million tons, while Mercury's helium-3 resource is expected to be about 9 times that of the moon. Of course, with the current aerospace technology of mankind, Mercury is too far away, so the moon is the most ideal Helium 3 mining target.
helium 3 mainly comes from high-energy particles in the solar wind
However, mining helium 3 on the moon looks beautiful and very exciting, but the theory and reality are still far away. First of all, the conditions for fusion of Helium 3 are quite harsh and belong to the third-generation nuclear fusion technology. Now humans have not fully mastered the first-generation nuclear fusion, that is, deuterium-tritium fusion, and it is too early to have large-scale mining of Helium 3.
Nuclear fusion reactor
And if humans master the third generation of nuclear fusion technology and need to mine Helium 3 on a large scale, interstellar travel in the solar system has become commonplace. At that time, you can go to Mercury, which has more abundant Helium 3 resources, or directly absorb the sun Why do you still keep staring at the moon? In addition, after mastering the third-generation nuclear fusion technology, just wait for the tritium to decay. Tritium itself is made with lithium under bombardment by neutrons, and helium 3 can also be obtained, which is much more convenient than mining on the moon.
lunar mining has become the moon's soil
Secondly, since helium 3 on the moon is survived by high-energy particles in the solar wind directly bombarding the lunar soil, this means that mining helium 3 on the moon requires a large amount of scraping the surface of the lunar soil. According to Indian aerospace experts' estimates, the concentration of helium 3 in the surface of lunar soil is about 2-15PPB, which is 2/1,000,000,000 to 15/1,000,000,000. Behind a bunch of zeros, it means that it is very rare, that is, dozens of tons need to be scraped Only in lunar soil can we extract dozens of grams of helium 3, which consumes such a huge cost and only obtains "small ribs". How can we achieve profits and make the Earth-Moon Economic Circle profitable?
Even if it can be purchased, it must consider the cost and profit
. It seems that no wonder there is a view to questioning the claim of collecting helium 3 on the moon. It is just a reason for the aerospace community in various countries to "make up" the continuous lunar exploration and landing on the moon. However, there is not only helium 3 on the moon. By analyzing the lunar soil samples retrieved by Chang'e 5, Chinese scientists have also discovered four other minerals unique to the moon or very rare on the earth, such as titanium ore, through Chang'e Scientists expect the titanium ore reserves on the entire moon to exceed 100 trillion tons, while the titanium reserves on the earth are only 2 billion tons. In addition, there are more than 100 other metal mineral resources on the moon, which can be done as long as it can offset the huge costs of mining and transportation.
